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New Evers maps on the way to state Supreme Court plan could reduce GOP influence
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Gov. Tony Evers has sent the state Supreme Court
a proposed legislative map his office says makes fewer changes to current lines than the GOP lawmakers’ version while adding one more majority Black Assembly seat.
The guv’s office also said his proposed maps for the Legislature and Congress would have more partisan balance than the ones Republicans drew. He vetoed the GOP maps last month.
Republicans slammed Evers for submitting a map that was drawn in private after he publicly committed to a public process through the People’s Maps Commission. In a joint statement, Senate Majority Leader Devin Lemahieu, R-Oostburg, and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, noted bipartisan supermajorities in both houses voted against the People’s Maps Commission proposals when they were on the floor last month.
“Now Governor Evers has abandoned his campaign rhetoric promising for independently-drawn maps to rapidly and secretly draw his own rigged maps without public input,” they said. “The hypocrisy of the governor is impossible to ignore.”
The state Supreme Court last month directed parties in the redistricting case to take a least-change approach to the proposals submitted to the justices by yesterday’s deadline. The final version of the map Evers’ commission drew proposed significant changes to current lines, and Evers noted the court would only consider proposals “that make minimal changes from the gerrymandered maps that we have now.” He called the maps he submitted yesterday an improvement from the ones he vetoed.
“But I want to be clear — the people of Wisconsin overwhelmingly support nonpartisan redistricting in this state, and I will continue to fight for a nonpartisan redistricting process as long as I’m governor,” Evers said.
Meanwhile, Republicans submitted to the court the maps that were passed by the state Legislature last month without any changes.
A WisPolitics.com review of those maps showed Joe Biden would’ve won more votes than Donald Trump in 35 Assembly seats that Republicans proposed and 11 Senate districts. Under the current lines, Biden won 37 and 11 as he took the statewide contest by more than 20,000 votes.
The GOP maps also included six majority Black Assembly districts and two Hispanic seats in that chamber. They also included two majority Black Senate districts.
Evers’ office said his map would have 55 GOP Assembly districts and 44 Dem seats with a 20-13 split in Republicans’ favor in the Senate. That calculation used the average of six statewide elections since 2016.
Vos: Session could be extended to incorporate Gableman findings
Speaker Robin Vos says the Assembly could be in later than usual this session to give former Justice Michael Gableman more time to wrap up a 2020 election review so lawmakers can incorporate his findings when writing new bills.
The Rochester Republican, in a WisPolitics.com yearend interview yesterday, sought to blame Dems for a delay in Gableman’s timeline. The effort originally targeted October for an end date, but Vos said Dems have put up a series of roadblocks to hamper the efforts.
Minority Leader Gordon Hintz charged Assembly Republicans are looking to extend the probe as long as they can and may take it past the 2022 election. The Oshkosh Dem said doing so would imply there was something wrong with how the 2020 election played out and avoid having to finally admit to some in the GOP base that the review’s results will be disappointing.
“For some of them, if Trump isn’t reinstated, they didn’t get to the bottom of it,” Hintz told WisPolitics.com.
The pair spoke with WisPolitics.com in separate interviews yesterday with Gableman’s investigation facing court hearings that will likely push any conclusion into the early part of 2022. A Dane County judge has a hearing set for Dec. 23 on Dem AG Josh Kaul’s effort to quash the subpoena Gableman issued to Wisconsin Elections Commission Administrator Meagan Wolfe, arguing the statute gives the former justice the power to compel testimony in public before a legislative hearing, not in private at his Brookfield office.
Wisconsin’s senators alongside their colleagues approved
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the National Defense Authorization Act, sending the bill to President Biden for consideration.
In an 88-11 vote U.S. Sens. Ron Johnson and Tammy Baldwin voted in favor of the $768.2 billion bill, which cleared the House last week. The bill includes provisions that revise how the military handles sexual assault claims and excludes a provision that would have required women to sign up or selective service.
Baldwin, D-Madison, in a statement said she supports the military’s new topline budget because it includes provisions that help Wisconsin soldiers, families and industries.
“I am proud to vote for the bipartisan defense authorization legislation that strengthens our national security, makes vital investments to support Wisconsin’s service members, veterans, and communities, and supports our Made in Wisconsin economy,” she said. “This legislation supports our brave service members – increasing pay, providing parental leave, and investing in their health and wellbeing — and makes long-overdue improvements to the military justice system to curb and prevent sexual assault and harassment.”
U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Allouez, in a statement praised the bill, which includes his legislation authorizing construction of a Global War on Terrorism Memorial on the National Mall.
“There is no place more fitting to honor the service of the more than three million Americans who fought in the Global War on Terror,” the former Marine said. “I’m grateful to see this memorial is one step closer to becoming a reality and proud to have worked in bipartisan fashion to ensure my generation of veterans is remembered on the Mall.”
Hmong Institute CEO launches lt guv bid
Dem Peng Her, CEO at the Hmong Institute, today announced his campaign for lieutenant governor.
Her has also worked as a small business owner and executive for nonprofit organizations. With the Hmong Institute, he focuses on providing education, training and outreach to improve health care and educational achievement for communities of color in the state.
He is the fourth Dem to get into the race for lieutenant governor, joining state Reps. David Bowen, of Milwaukee, and Sara Rodriguez, of Brookfield, and state Sen. Lena Taylor, of Milwaukee.
“I want to partner with Governor Evers to advance our shared values,” Her said. “We need to build a sustainable, fair economy and strong communities where everyone has the chance to succeed. I will put my skills and experience to work to serve all the people of this great state and make Wisconsin even better.”
Her and his family immigrated to the U.S. from Laos when he was 5. His campaign said he would be the first HmongAmerican elected to statewide office in the country if he won.
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